£5 million funding boost for mental health research UK

Main Category: Mental Health
Article Date: 07 Jun 2004 - 14:00 PDT


People with mental health problems are set to benefit from a £5million funding boost for mental health research and the creation of the first ever Mental Health Research Network, Health Minister Rosie Winterton announced today.

The Network will help to raise the standard of mental health and social care research in England by acting as a central resource for clinicians, researchers, carers and people with mental health problems with an interest in participating in research. The Network will increase the scale, range, and timeliness of mental health research.

Current research projects include support for carers, a study of service users views of the current Mental Health Act and an overview of trials of psychological treatments for people with schizophrenia and substance misuse.

Speaking at the official launch of the Network at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, Rosie Winterton said:

"Funding for mental health research has not reflected the size and scale of the problem. Research is vital if we are to improve NHS services for mental health patients. A huge amount of good work is going on but it currently lacks co-ordination and a strategic overview.

"This £5million funding will help to create a Network that represents a real coming of age for mental health research in this country for the benefit of people with mental health problems. As a core part of the National Institute for Mental Health in England's programme of work I am confident that mental health research will become a priority.

"The Network will be managed by the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and the University of Manchester. It will spread evidence- based best practice around the country via local groups, whose members will include people with mental health problems, clinical academics from universities and representatives from PCTS and NHS Trusts. The Network is the first of its kind, and I believe it will take us much further forward on our programme of reform."

Research priorities for the Network will be determined by a wide-scale consultation process, which will begin later this year. This will be informed by the views of service users and their carers, researchers, front-line staff, health services and social care managers and commissioners.

Notes to editor

1. The Mental Health Research Network can be contacted by post at PO Box 88, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF or by email mhrn@iop.kcl.ac.uk or by telephone 020 7848 0699 or fax 020 7 848 0147.

2. In March, Health Secretary John Reid announced an extra £100 million per year by 2008 set out in the budget for research and development (£25m in each of the next four years over and above inflation), will be used to fund research into new medicines for children, and for the treatment and cure of Alzheimer's, Stroke, Diabetes and Mental health. The Network will receive £1million every year over the next five years. This funding boost will bring combined government spending on medical research to £1.2 billion by 2008.

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UK Dept of Health Press Release

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